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Article SHOULD FEMALES BE INITIATED OR NOT? Page 1 of 3 →
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Should Females Be Initiated Or Not?
SHOULD FEMALES BE INITIATED OR NOT ?
To the Editor of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review . Sin , —Observing that " A Sister" has addressed you on the subject of initiation into the Masonic mysteries , I presume '' A Wife" may be permitted to do the same . The very enlightened ideas you have ever expressed with regard to tbe moral and intellectual qualities of woman , induce me to hope that
you will receive without displeasure the observations I am about to offer for your consideration in this letter . Allow me to preface it by assuring you , that it is written with no presumptuous wish of intruding my own views , but rather with the desire of leading you to bestow your consideration on the subject to which I request your attention . 1 refer to the exclusion of the female sex from participation in Masonic instruction . The idea of admitting us to any share in the mysteries which havefor
, centuries past , been guarded from our inquiries with the most zealous care , would doubtless be exceedingly startling to the generality of men ; but you , Mr . Editor , have ever professed to respect both tbe understanding and the moral sentiments of woman , and have ever concurred in the opinion expressed by a few of the Craft , that the time had arrived when the fountains of wisdom , from which men are invited to draw instruction , should no longer be closed against the female moiety of our
species , or at least , that ive should be permitted to cool our thirst for knowledge by sipping of those streams , ivhich are gushing forth i ' or the refreshment of our husbands and sons . Our desire for instruction was , I believe , regarded with approbation by the late Lord Durham , and
hopes were held out to us that his influence would be exerted to admit us to partake of Masonic privileges , in such degree as might , on consideration , be deemed advisable . His death , however , extinguished all these anticipations , and , I believe , no one has since ventured to bring the subject forward . If my memory does not fail me , Lord Durham , iu speaking of the rules adopted in remote ages for the exclusion of woman , reminded his Brethren of the very great difference in the
relative position of the sexes in those times and in cur own ; and in adverting to the subordinate condition which they necessarily occupied in time ' s when physical strength or handicraft skill alone sufficed to raise one man above another ; he drew their attention to the qualities which now rendered a human being fitted for the reception of Masonic benefit—these he did us the honour ( may I not say , the justice ) of allowing that we possess , in a degree littleif at allinferior to yourselves— truthfulness of
, , character ; understanding to appreciate wisdom , if not to originate it ; purity of sentiment ; ancl temperance , in its extended and highest sense . I remember to have read in a quaint old historian , that from the time ( 10-1-6 ' , 1 believe ) when Elias Ashmole , one of the earliest of the Roscicrucians in England , became a Freemason , the character of the Craft lias been gradually changing from practical operative Masons to speculative reasoners on certain abstruse doctrines and theories . From that
era then the necessity of excluding women from the Order , ceased to exist , ancl the expediency of so doing has been continually diminishing , as their education , and consequent position in the moral world , have been advancing . Dining the last century , the literature of almost all civilized countries has afforded abundant proofs of the intellectual powers of our
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Should Females Be Initiated Or Not?
SHOULD FEMALES BE INITIATED OR NOT ?
To the Editor of the Freemasons' Quarterly Review . Sin , —Observing that " A Sister" has addressed you on the subject of initiation into the Masonic mysteries , I presume '' A Wife" may be permitted to do the same . The very enlightened ideas you have ever expressed with regard to tbe moral and intellectual qualities of woman , induce me to hope that
you will receive without displeasure the observations I am about to offer for your consideration in this letter . Allow me to preface it by assuring you , that it is written with no presumptuous wish of intruding my own views , but rather with the desire of leading you to bestow your consideration on the subject to which I request your attention . 1 refer to the exclusion of the female sex from participation in Masonic instruction . The idea of admitting us to any share in the mysteries which havefor
, centuries past , been guarded from our inquiries with the most zealous care , would doubtless be exceedingly startling to the generality of men ; but you , Mr . Editor , have ever professed to respect both tbe understanding and the moral sentiments of woman , and have ever concurred in the opinion expressed by a few of the Craft , that the time had arrived when the fountains of wisdom , from which men are invited to draw instruction , should no longer be closed against the female moiety of our
species , or at least , that ive should be permitted to cool our thirst for knowledge by sipping of those streams , ivhich are gushing forth i ' or the refreshment of our husbands and sons . Our desire for instruction was , I believe , regarded with approbation by the late Lord Durham , and
hopes were held out to us that his influence would be exerted to admit us to partake of Masonic privileges , in such degree as might , on consideration , be deemed advisable . His death , however , extinguished all these anticipations , and , I believe , no one has since ventured to bring the subject forward . If my memory does not fail me , Lord Durham , iu speaking of the rules adopted in remote ages for the exclusion of woman , reminded his Brethren of the very great difference in the
relative position of the sexes in those times and in cur own ; and in adverting to the subordinate condition which they necessarily occupied in time ' s when physical strength or handicraft skill alone sufficed to raise one man above another ; he drew their attention to the qualities which now rendered a human being fitted for the reception of Masonic benefit—these he did us the honour ( may I not say , the justice ) of allowing that we possess , in a degree littleif at allinferior to yourselves— truthfulness of
, , character ; understanding to appreciate wisdom , if not to originate it ; purity of sentiment ; ancl temperance , in its extended and highest sense . I remember to have read in a quaint old historian , that from the time ( 10-1-6 ' , 1 believe ) when Elias Ashmole , one of the earliest of the Roscicrucians in England , became a Freemason , the character of the Craft lias been gradually changing from practical operative Masons to speculative reasoners on certain abstruse doctrines and theories . From that
era then the necessity of excluding women from the Order , ceased to exist , ancl the expediency of so doing has been continually diminishing , as their education , and consequent position in the moral world , have been advancing . Dining the last century , the literature of almost all civilized countries has afforded abundant proofs of the intellectual powers of our